A Seamstress In Her Former Life Became A Member Of The Blue Ghost Team

OPERATIONAL MISSION

 

Firefly Blue Ghost logo

Mission 1 to the Moon

 

 

Firefly - Blue Ghost Mission 1 - Landed - Rendering

Mission Details

 

Mission Name: Ghost Riders in the Sky

Mission Type: Lunar Mission

Customer: NASA

Spacecraft: Blue Ghost lunar lander

Launch Date: January 15, 2025

Landing Date: March 2, 2025

Landing Time: TBA

Landing Site: Mare Crisium near Mons Latreille

Mission Updates

 

Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, launched from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, at 1:11 a.m. EST on January 15, 2025. Blue Ghost separated from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a highly elliptical Earth orbit at 2:17 a.m. EST and established communications with Firefly’s Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas, at 2:26 a.m. EST. As Blue Ghost continues its journey to the Moon, follow along with Firefly’s mission updates all along the way.

 

LIVE UPDATES MISSION IMAGERY

 

Mission Summary

 

Blue Ghost Mission 1 will deliver 10 science and technology instruments to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Upon launching on January 15, Blue Ghost is spending approximately 45 days traveling to the Moon, allowing ample time to conduct health checks on each subsystem and begin payload science. Blue Ghost is set to land in Mare Crisium on March 2 and operate payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days). On March 14, Firefly expects to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse when the Earth blocks the sun above the Moon’s horizon. Blue Ghost will then capture the lunar sunset on March 16, providing data on how lunar dust levitates due to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow first documented by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. Following sunset, Blue Ghost will operate several hours into the lunar night.

 

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Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 Trajectory

 

Our Payloads

 

The payloads on Blue Ghost Mission 1 will help advance lunar research and conduct several first-of-its-kind demonstrations, including testing regolith sample collection, Global Navigation Satellite System abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation. These investigations will help pave the way for humanity’s return to the Moon. The data captured will also benefit humans on Earth by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth, among other valuable research.

 

Firefly - Blue Ghost Mission 1 - LISTER Payload

Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER)

 

Honeybee Robotics (Blue Origin)

 

Firefly - Blue Ghost Mission 1 - LPV Payload

Lunar PlanetVac (LPV)

 

Honeybee Robotics (Blue Origin)

 

 

Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR)

 

University of Maryland

 

Firefly - Blue Ghost Mission 1 - RAC Payload

Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC)

 

Aegis Aerospace

 

Firefly - Blue Ghost Mission 1 - RadPC Payload

Radiation Tolerant Computer (RadPC)

 

Montana State University

 

Firefly - Blue Ghost Mission 1 - EDS Payload

Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS)

 

NASA Kennedy Space Center

 

Firefly - Blue Ghost Mission 1 - LEXI Payload

Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI)

 

Boston University; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Johns Hopkins University

 

 

Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS)

 

Southwest Research Institute

 

Firefly - Blue Ghost Mission 1 - LUGRE Payload

Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE)

 

Italian Space Agency (ASI); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

 

Firefly - Blue Ghost Mission 1 - SCALPSS Payload

Stereo CAmera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS)

 

NASA Langley Research Center

 

Our Ride

 

Standing 2 m (6.6 ft) tall and 3.5 m (11.5 ft) wide, Blue Ghost is designed for stability with shock absorbing feet, a low center of mass, and a wide footprint. Blue Ghost’s core components, including the panels, struts, legs, harnesses, avionics, batteries, and thrusters, were built using many of the same flight-proven technologies common to all of Firefly’s launch and orbital vehicles, enabling lower costs and improved reliability.

 

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Our Descent

 

During the final hour of descent, Blue Ghost uses vision-based terrain relative navigation and hazard avoidance to measure the lander’s position and identify craters, slopes, and rocks before selecting the final hazard-free target within the landing zone. Blue Ghost’s RCS thrusters pulse as needed throughout the descent for a soft landing.

 

 

 

Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 Descent

 

Our Destination

 

Blue Ghost will land near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a large basin located in the northeast quadrant of the Moon’s near side (when observing the Moon from Earth’s northern hemisphere). Formerly an ancient asteroid impact site, Mare Crisium was created by volcanic eruptions that flooded the basin with basaltic lava about 3 billion years ago. This unique landing site will allow Firefly’s payload partners to gather critical data about the Moon’s regolith, geophysical characteristics, and the interaction of solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field.

 

 

Our Team

 

More than 700 Firefly employees from all over the world have played a role in bringing Blue Ghost to life. These Ghost Riders are forging a highway to the Moon by enabling regular lunar access, advancing lunar research, and laying the groundwork for humans to have a lasting lunar presence. Get to know these talented individuals as we begin our road trip to the Moon: Blue Ghost – Meet the Team – YouTube.

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